Visit by Dáil Committee toTyndall National Institute, UCC, Monday 14 July. Questions need to be addressed in regard to departures of iconic researchers following SFI funded research work. In particular the iconic work on the junctionless transistor. read full story / add a comment

The false sense of security of the internet has been completely overturned by the latest security bug to be discovered. A bug in the popular OpenSSL library used by many of the most important and frequently used server sites on the net allows arbitrary chunks of memory to be read remotely from user machines and servers, possibly containing very sensitive data, user tokens, bank details, emails and passwords. What does all this mean and how did it happen and what can we do to protect ourselves? read full story / add a comment

Just as we are seeing climate chaos change to climate catastrophe, we may also see job chaos change to job catastrophe. We are entering an era of technological change which has the potential to create havoc in an already seriously undermined world of employment. It has become a well-worn cliché to declare that the robots are coming but it is necessary to consider seriously how the creeping technologisation of production and services is going to affect many areas of employment considered today to be relatively safe from the machines. read full story / add a comment

3,000 anarchists in Greece march in solidarity to Athens Indymedia & 98 FM

Taking the fight from the internet to the streets. On April 25th, 2013 approximately 3.000 anarchists marched in solidarity to Athens Indymedia and 98 FM that have been censored by the greek State since April 11th, amongst dozens of solidarity actions all over Greece and some parts of Europe. read full story / add a comment

The Irish Meteorological Society invites you to a Public Lecture in the Custom House, Thursday April 25th at 6-30pm. ‘EUMETSAT: A European Success Story’ by Declan Murphy.

EUMETSAT is responsible for the launch and operation of meteorological satellites which make a significant contribution to weather forecasting and to the monitoring of the global climate.

Members of the public are welcome and admission is free. Please book at www.irishmetsociety.org. Tea/coffee from 5-30pm and complimentary satellite poster for attendees. read full story / add a comment

Interesting long term data confirms that Australia is warming. Full text at link.

In the first study of its kind in Australasia, scientists used 27 natural climate records to create the first large-scale temperature reconstruction for the region over the past 1,000 years.

The study led by researchers at the University of Melbourne, used a range of natural indicators including tree rings, corals and ice cores to study Australasian temperatures over the past millennium. They then compared these with climate model simulations.

Dr. Stephen Phipps, a researcher with UNSW’s Climate Change Research Centre and the Centre of Excellence for Climate System Science led the climate model simulation research. He said the results showed there were no other warm periods in the past 1,000 years that match the warming experienced in Australasia since 1950. read full story / add a comment

(original article is in Scientific American, re-published here in the public interest)

By Julian Dibbell

• The Internet was designed to be a decentralized system: every node should connect to many others. This design helped to make the system resistant to censorship or outside attack.
• Yet in practice, most individual users exist at the edges of the network, connected to others only through their Internet service provider (ISP). Block this link, and Internet access disappears.
• An alternative option is beginning to emerge in the form of wireless mesh networks, simple systems that connect end users to one another and automatically route around blocks and censors.
• Yet any mesh network needs to hit a critical mass of users before it functions well; developers must convince potential users to trade off ease of use for added freedom and privacy.read full story / add a comment

A new Dublin start-up have just released Riffstation, a software application designed for guitar players everywhere to practice, jam and learn the songs they love. There's even a free trial version available on the website www.riffstation.com. Unlike other interactive guitar applications which force users to buy subscriptions or special content, Riffstation uses the music you already own. read full story / add a comment

Sanncus is being launched as part of the “The 12 Business Days of Christmas” running from 1st to 20th of December. The initiative, created by DCU Business School and LINK, the Leadership, Innovation and Knowledge Research Centre, is supported by AIB. read full story / add a comment

In the evolutionary journey of a living creature, a condition or a movement that occurs continuously from generation to generation, e.g. as when it “moves forward”, will have an impact on the shape of its body read full story / add a comment

How then are we to explain about the very existence of living creatures that have, since they first emerged 3.8 billion years ago, never come to the end of their life process? Therefore, the claim that all living creatures must experience death is one that still needs to be thoroughly proven read full story / add a comment

In Ireland, you’re psycho. In Sweden the government recognizes electromagnetic sensitivity as a medical condition. In Spain this week the courts recognized the condition following assessment by a group of experts. In San Francisco organizers have announced plans for a mass rally against Smart Meters. read full story / add a comment

Evidence from a growing number of studies does not support the theory that cellphones raise the risk of brain cancer, an independent international panel of experts has found after carrying out a thorough analysis of all published research.

The analysis was carried out by the ICNIRP (International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection) Standing Committee on Epidemiology.read full story / add a comment

British prime minister David Cameron gave authorisation yesterday for Apache attack helicopters to start flying into Libya. It is expected that the helicopters will be deployed within 24 hours.
Defence analyst Rear Admiral Chris Parry, said in an interview with the BBC this week that , if the Apaches were used for assault operations and in reinforcing the rebels in their attacks on the Gaddafi regime, it "could be seen as an escalation " of the western military intervention .
Parry said that the helicopters’ electro-optics and command and control systems were their main strength . The attack helicopters have been used extensively by UK forces in Afghanistan where they have been providing “ deterrence, intelligence and close air support for hours at a time “.read full story / add a comment